Originally, I started this website in 1996 as a collection of mailing-list essays I thought might be interesting to others. Now, with over 3000 writings and materials at this domain name, I have split things into two, with this portion dedicated to providing "experiences for others' reference". I hope that people thinking about longer-term Japan lifestyles might consider a few angles and avoid some of my mistakes.

This page also contains links to some humorous and anecdotal stories and reports about life in Japan. Click on a link in the Headings Section immediately following the book ad to page down to a teaser summary. If you prefer only published works, click here. (All recent articles can be found there without links from here--it's become too cumbersome to update all my pages whenever an article comes out.)  If you want daily updates in real time, visit my NEW BLOG.

Search Tips: I don't have a search function on this site, although Google might be of some assistance. Google has consistently provided the most hits on this site of any search engine. For a speedier search, I recommend you insert the word "debito" all in lower case, then a comma, then your key word or topic. That works for me. I try to have "www.debito.org" at the very top of all my new and revised sites. If it's something I wrote that has been published, I keep an up-to-date archive at my PUBLICATIONS PAGE, so stop by there too.  

Speaking of publications, a quick commercial:

ADVANCE REVIEWS:

• "A reasoned and spirited denunciation of national prejudice, discrimination, and bigotry. It's not that the Japanese have all that much more of it than anyone else, but that they lack an interface to fight it. This lively accounting will help them find it." ---Donald Richie
• "An important, trailblazing work that will go down in the annals of civil activist journals... Will be the book of reference on the subject for decades to come and should be required reading for anyone studying social protest." --Robert Whiting, author, The Meaning of Ichiro, You've Gotta have Wa, and Tokyo Underworld.
• "A powerful, poignant, and path-breaking docu-narrative." ---Ivan Hall, author, Cartels of the Mind and Bamboozled.

LIST OF AND LINKS TO PUBLICATIONS AND ARTICLES

Many of these essays on Japan originally appeared on various internet discussion networks from 1994 onwards. Teaser summaries follow:

"JAPANESE ONLY" My first books (not including textbooks), on the Otaru Onsen Racial Discrimination Case, are currently on sale in Japanese (English version due October 2004). Published by human rights specialists Akashi Shoten KK. More information, reviews, and ordering details here.

Are you in a tight situation? No time to navigate the entire debito.org site? Here is an easy FAQ site of important topics:

WHAT TO DO IF... (click on a link to go directly to that heading on the site)
..you are asked for your "Gaijin Card".
..you are stopped by the Japanese police.
..you are arrested by the Japanese police.
..you overstay your visa.
..you see a "Japanese Only" sign.
..you are refused service at a business catering to the general public.
..you are turned away at a hotel.
..you want to protest something you see as discriminatory.
..you want to take somebody to court.
..you want to get a job (or a better job) in Japanese academia.
..you are having a labor dispute in the workplace.
..you are swindled in a business deal.
..you need a lawyer.
..you want to get Permanent Residency (eijuuken).
..you want to become a Japanese citizen.
..you want to run for office.
..you want to build a house.
..you want to get a divorce.
..you want to do some awareness raising.

And more. Updated and added to frequently. Don't see exactly what you're looking for? Start at the very top of the "What to do if" site and see what headings are on offer.

Japan has a very mixed record on human rights, especially towards ethnic minorities, non-citizens, and other people born of distinction within its society. When signing the UN's International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in 1995, Japan promised to take measures (including legislation) at all levels of government to eliminate racial discrimination "without delay". Despite this, Japan to this day remains the only developed country without any form of a law at any level outlawing discrimination by race.

Japan officially maintains that its legal system provides adequate protection against and redress for racial discrimination, therefore a specific law against it is unnecessary. But as demonstrated in

• 1) the Otaru Onsens Case (where "foreigners", including naturalized Japanese citizens and their international children, were refused entry to a series of public baths in Otaru between 1993 and 2001, while the Otaru City Government was exonerated in court for refusing to take any effective measures to stop it; case is still on appeal),
• 2) statements by Tokyo Governor ISHIHARA Shintarou (who wrote in May 2001 that Chinese have criminal tendencies due to their "ethnic DNA", and called upon Japan's Self Defense Forces in April 2000 to round up all "illegal foreigners" on sight in the event of a natural disaster), and
• 3) The Community Website (where an archive of domestic discrimination against non-citizens by race or appearance has been compiled over several years),

the government's claims of sufficient protection from and redress for racial discrimination are simply not true.

The UN is aware of this situation. This information site, focussing on the interaction between the GOJ and the CERD Committee, will demonstrate how Japan's government wilfully abdicates its international responsibilities, and lay bare what ideology is used to justify it. The website author has compiled three reports in one place for ease of reference and readability, with notes and links added by the author to highlight contentious points. The author hopes a wider knowledge of the situation may persuade a recalcitrant Japanese government to keep its international promises, and enshrine in law the fundamentals of a society with more opportunities for all its members and residents--regardless of race, color, historical or national origin, or other criteria socially preordained by birth.
http://www.debito.org/japanvsun.html

UPDATE (JULY 2005)
"As a world power in an era of globalization, Japan has to expand to the outside world. But its society is still closed, spiritually and intellectually centered."
--Doudou Diene of Senegal, special rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, who will arrive in Japan this weekend to assess the situation of minorities and foreigners in Japanese society. (Kyodo News, Friday, July 1, 2005)

CLICK HERE TO SEE FULL REPORT AND EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF THIS UNPRECEDENTED ON-SITE SURVEY OF JAPAN'S HUMAN RIGHTS BY THE UNITED NATIONS:

The world has now entered the 21st Century, with the promises and problems of global and "borderless" societies. Japan too has itself found itself in the throes of an inevitable internationalization, with record numbers of resident foreigners, registered and unregistered, year on year. Yet even though international residents pay taxes and contribute to Japanese society the same as citizens, there are several societal and legal barriers to them enjoying equal rights and social treatment. In fact, overt exclusionism remains largely unremedied, often by Japanese Government (GOJ) design. This info site, the text of a handout I distribute at all of my speeches, will describe several social and structural problems that warrant attention, and in the end propose some modest solutions to make Japanese society easier for everyone regardless of nationality to live in.

Click on the picture to for a link to the Sealion Tama-Chan Site, celebrating his of newfound Residency Status (as opposed to taxpaying foreigners, perpetually unrecognized on "Juuminhyou" Residency Certificates in Japan). Joining his ranks as a recognized Japanese resident is fictional character "Tetsuwan Atomu" (Astro Boy), in Saitama, April 7, 2003. But not generations of ethnic Koreans and Chinese, not to mention every other foreigner in Japan, who cannot technically be "residents" unless they have citizenship.

Released Monday, November 10, 2003, I offer some armchair analysis from me about an important General Election in Japan, as both a newly-minted voter and a Hokkaido resident. This was the basis for a Japan Times article dated November 18, 2003. Topics covered:

• WHAT HAPPENED?
• WHY? AND IS THIS A GOOD THING?
• MISCELLANEOUS THINGS I NOTICED THIS ELECTION WHICH MAY BE PRELUDES

Click to have a look see here.

It's odd how governments work sometimes. Several former Hansen's Disease patients got refused entry to a private-sector onsen in Kumamoto in mid-November, 2003. Fortunately (given Japan's shameful history as the last country in the world with leper concentration camps!), the government came down on them like a ton of bricks and forced the hotel to apologize within days. Well and good. Yet with the Otaru Onsens Case, in which foreigners (and foreign-looking Japanese) have suffered signposted exclusion for well over a decade, the onsens have yet to apologize, or even be forced to take their "JAPANESE ONLY" signs down (short of taking them to court for years of litigation)--precisely because the baths are "private sector". Although being a foreigner and being a former Hansen's Disease victim is incomparable in terms of degree of pain and suffering, one would hope the Japanese government would be a bit more enlightened about keeping all forms of discrimination at bay as per its international treaty promises. But no. Read a quick essay about this issue here. Meanwhile, thanks to government negligence, the problem mutates further in Monbetsu, Hokkaido. Read on:

SUMMARY
Monbetsu, a seaport city on the northeast Okhotsk Seacoast of Hokkaido, Japan, has since 1995 had "JAPANESE ONLY STORE" signs displayed on as many as 100 bar and restaurant doors. Produced by the local Restaurateurs' Association, these signs, rendered in Russian only, have been used to exclude all "foreign" clientele, regardless of connection either to Russia or to Japan. Although the Ministry of Justice's Bureau of Human Rights demanded in July 2000 that this signposted discrimination cease immediately, a fact-finding mission, carried out Nov 15, 2003 by Olaf Karthaus and Arudou Debito, revealed that signs are still up more than three years later. In fact, other businesses, such as a restaurant, a karaoke parlor, and a public bath funded by tax monies (a "Dai-San Sector" enterprise), have put up new exclusionary signs of their own. However, enforcement is haphazard--foreigners (and foreign-looking Japanese) can be admitted if they speak Japanese, or are accompanied by a Japanese speaker. Nevertheless, our requests to have the signs taken down were rejected for the time being. Karthaus and Arudou will be returning in the winter months to resubmit a Petition (chinjou) to the Monbetsu City Government asking for the establishment of an anti-discrimination Ordinance (jourei), which if passed will make this activity, currently not unlawful in Japan, illegal in this municipality. INFORMATION SITE WITH NAMES, DATES, PLACES, PHOTOS AND ARTICLES HERE.

In a January 4, 2005 Japan Times article, I offer accounts of how "no-foreigner" policies are
turning international business away from Japan. Dedicated to those who think "Japanese Only" exclusionism in Japan is not getting worse. Have a read.

July 2003 was a busy month for the bigots in Japan. Statements from the uppermost levels of Japan's political arenas demonstrated that any opportunity is a good one for painting dire pictures of foreign crime. Especially if they might get some new public policy out of it.

On July 12, Dietmember Etoh Takami claimed that "one million foreigners" in Japan are "murderers and thieves". Then on July 11, the Koizumi Cabinet linked a heinous killing of a Nagasaki child by another (Japanese) preteen with "Brazilian youth crime". On July 28, after appointing a cop as vice-governor, Tokyo Governor Ishihara went on a tour and bashed Ikebukuro as a hotbed of foreign crime. All this has caused immense social damage in Japan--to the point where a government survey reveals tha only about half (and markedly dropping) of Japanese respondents believe that foreigners deserve their human rights protected!

Yet what happens when Japanese go abroad? On July 17, the Japanese Government announced that crimes by Japanese abroad are rising,too! By September, however, even the Europoean Union reported that after seventeen commissioned studies, there was no evidence that increased immigration led to an increase in the crime rate. Read all about it in this essay.

Consequently:

For those who read and watch the Japanese press, these are scary times. Foreign crime is allegedly on the rise, members of the new Koizumi Cabinet are making clear policy statements against it, and the National Police Agency is ready for a new push. This despite incontrovertible evidence that foreign crime both as an absolute and a rate is miniscule compared to that of Japanese crime. However, the English-language media is ignoring this impending policy putsch (which may dramatically affect their readership's civil liberties in Japan), instead focussing on economic reform (probably to avoid scaring away foreign investors). What is going on?

That is what this essay will discuss. With things on the move in the highest levels of government, ow is the time to woolgather before things become entrenched as law, and I hope that the journalists out there will see the issues involved as worthy of overseas attention.

Further:

On May 27, 2004, Japan's more-powerful Lower House passed an amendment to the "Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law", which takes effect six months after its imminent promulgation. This amendment enacts stricter punishments for those overstaying their visa. Banishment time from Japan has been doubled from five to ten years. Maximum fine increased tenfold from 300,000 to 3 million yen (more than a year's salary in most countries). Those who go down to Immigration to come clean before being caught are merely deported faster. This in addition to the already-enforced incarceration with other criminals for at least several days (sometimes at a charge of 60,000 yen per day), without access to family, a consulate, or even a lawyer. I discuss why this happened, how authorities are going overboard, and what it will mean in the long term (Japan's loss of skilled workers who will be turned off by what is fast becoming harassment for having any kind of visa, valid or void). Have a read. (See also June 29, 2004 Japan Times article which came out of this report)

Yes, this is an essay from experience. My wife got elected to the town council in Nanporo, Hokkaido, in April 2003. Advice on how to run a grass-roots campaign is available at http:// www.debito.org/nanporo2003elections.html, with links to other elected candidates who also have strong international connections.

Yes, I gave it up. What could have inspired such a rash act? A little coercion from the US State Department, in what I felt was an attempt to stop me from pursuing an international incident of racial discrimination near an American air base. The procedures involved, the actual documents (even my cancelled passport) scanned, and the motivations are all available here

Japan has had widespread reportage about the alleged "Foreigner Crime Wave". This is a myth. Turns out the foreigner crime rate is actually far less than the Japanese rate. I speculate that the Japanese police are deliberately trying to generate mass hysteria through selective reporting of statistics, in order to increase their budgetary outlay (in the same successful way they did for the alleged threat of hooliganism during the World Cup 2002). An article I wrote for the Japan Times Zeit Gist Column. Have a read.

Speaking both as a Sapporo resident (my city being the site of the contentious England-Argentina match) and a naturalized Japanese citizen (who attracted police attention with his foreign features due to the overall media-stoked fear of hooliganism), I think it was too early for Japan as a society to have hosted the world's most popular sport. I offer some on-site observations, newspaper articles, photos of exclusionary signs and opinions of agents who profited from them, and opinions on the overall fiasco that need not have happened if Japan as a society would have understood soccer as a sport better beforehand. All Japan's media and police wound up doing was making life uncomfortable for its international residents--and still offer no apologies for overdoing it.

Tokyo should be a fun place to cycle around, especially at night whe traffic is light. Not so. If you look like a foreigner, you may be stopped on suspicion of theft. I found out for myself in May 2002, and wrote it up for the Japan Times Zeit Gist Column. Have a read.

ARUDOU DEBITO REFUSED ADMISSION TO YUNOHANA ONSEN, OTARU, HOKKAIDO, ON THE BASIS OF RACE

And here's one of the surprise harbingers. On Oct 31, 2000, Dave Aldwinckle, then newly-minted Japanese citizen named Arudou Debito, dropped by Yunohana Onsen (Otaru-shi, Temiya), one of the many establishments in Hokkaido which refuse service to people ostensibly on the basis of extranationality. Even though this was no longer an issue, the person on duty at Yunohana refused Arudou Debito entry, even after the latter showed his new driver licence (which has his proof of honseki) and was acknowledged by the person on duty as a Japanese citizen. The reason given? In paraphrase: "We staff understand that you are a Japanese, but our customers would not just by looking at you. There is a danger that our customers might stay away if you come in, so we have to refuse you admission." Hence their "Japanese Only" rules draw lines on the basis of race, not nationality, calling into question the ability of the Japanese Constitution to protect not only its residents, but also its citizens, including children of international families, who look foreign.

SUBSTANTIATION:

• Nov 6, 2000 Hokkaido Shinbun article verifying this event (English translation and Japanese jpeg)
• Nov 8, 2000 Japan Times and Oct 27, 2000 Otaru Doshin on recent developments in general in English (Otaru Doshin Japanese jpeg)
• A website with information and background on exclusion of foreigners all around Japan.

And if that isn't enough, we happened to bring a tape recorder along with us to record the event and the conversation at Yunohana on October 31.

• For the original Japanese transcript of these taped proceedings, see www.debito.org/ yunohanakyakuhon103100.html
• For an English translation and Romajinized Japanese version, seewww.debito.org/yunohanatranscript103100 .html

Finally, a New York Times article on Debito's recent naturalization mentions the refusal incident inter alia at http:// www.nytimes.com/2000/11/29/world/29JAPA.html (You will need to register, but as far as I know registration is free. Or if you trust me, you can see the text of the article here at http://www.debito.org/nyt112900.html)

This is one reason why on February 1, 2001, two friends and I filed A LAWSUIT AGAINST YUNOHANA ONSEN AND OTARU CITY. Too much to tell you right here. Just click on the link to go to a special page, with hundreds of articles and reference materials in English and Japanese.

And if you still haven't had enough of this topic, check out a recent report (April 6, 2002) on "JAPANESE ONLY" SIGNS AROUND MISAWA AIR BASE

In November 1998, I got stopped for an ID check by Tokyo Metropolitan Police in Haneda Airport for no apparent reason. Lodging a harassment complaint, I entered into personal negotiations with Haneda authorities and the police themselves. Their express reason for being stopping me? Because I am a foreigner, they said, and therefore suspicious. Also because they can--in the line of duty. I then hit the Japanese law books to find out our legal rights. Turns out what they did was illegal under UN treaties that Japan is signatory to, and not entirely legal under domestic Japanese law either. And it is something they would hardly ever do to a Japanese because, legally, they cannot.

This is an information site which describes the mindset the police have towards people they see as foreigners, and provides detailed quotations of the law and observations on your legal rights. I suggest you print up and carry the letter of the law around with you to display whenever the police get obstructionist.

• Background to the Issue is here
• The Letter of the Law in English, Japanese, and Romaji is here
• QUICK AND DIRTY DOWNLOAD OF THE LAWS AND YOUR OPTIONS HERE (Microsoft Word document)
• More of what you can do at The Community Website
• Concise Japan Times article on this subject:  "Know the law:  As terror fears cause crackdown, foreign residents should know their legal rights" (July 27, 2004).
• More about "What to do if..." (something of this ilk happens) here.

By law, since foreigners are by definition not citizens, we cannot have a "Residency Certificate" (juuminhyou, in kanji: 住民票), ergo we do not actually "reside" in Japan. Not only is this an affront to our contribution to society (we pay resident taxes like anyone else), this legal loophole has created a number of systemic horror stories for non-Japanese--such as your Japanese spouse looking legally unmarried and your children bastards.

However, by law, it turns we can do something about this--get listed on our spouse's juuminhyou as a footnote. Know your rights; read this article and find out how. Jpegs of the pertinent legal edict and my wife's new juuminhyou also included. [NB: These documents were issued before I received my Japanese citizenship, of course.]

You can also see the root of this problem--the fact that I am not listed as a "person" in the "names rank" at the bottom of our family's Family Registry (koseki touhon). Excerpts of my wife's koseki touhon are here, demonstrating that I am the spouse of my wife and father of my children, but not a "husband" in the appropriate name column--despite having our marriage recognized in Japan as legal as any other marriage by citizens.

JUUMINHYOU UPDATE: A QUIET REVOLUTION IN PROGRESS
Not more than six months after this came up as a topic in 1997, many people have been emailing me with the good news: the legal loophole works! In fact, people (usually male non-Japanese, mind) have gotten their names listed on their spouse's juuminhyou AUTOMATICALLY! The bureaucrats even had a copy of my wife's papers right there that they had downloaded! Spooky! Since then, other people have written in saying that this site has helped get them juuminhyoued. Consider doing it yourself.

Meanwhile, this issue is attracting more and more attention. See my "Watashi no Shiten" article in the Asahi Shinbun of Nov 8, 2003 (Japanese). Also Japan Times article here (January 20, 2002).

Despite all the alleged international friction in port towns up here, Hokkaido's biggest port, Tomakomai, stands out as a beacon of international exchange without exclusion. This is in no small part due to The Missions to Seamen, Tomakomai, a haven and information center for people employed in the most transient of occupations--the waterborne trades. This report analyzes the life of a sailor, the workings of the organization, and the prospects for applicability in other troubled seaport towns throughout Japan.

Japan has had some very alienating fingerprinting laws, which were instituted after WWII to control and track foreigners. Several people took an active stance against this practice in the 1980's, some even taking their case before the Japan Supreme Court. One activist, columnist Kathy Morikawa, gave HIBA (Hokkaido International Business Association) a very thorough talk on her long march in November, 1998. As I was Secretary of HIBA, I wrote up a report for the HIBA NEWS. Because of heroes like her, Permanent Residents like me can get away with signatures on our Gaijin Cards, and the whole fingerprinting system may be abolished in the near future. Entire text of newspaper article on the abolition of the system on this URL.

• UPDATE: Brief article on the abolition in the New York Times, Aug 13, 1999.
• MAINICHI DAILY NEWS on Japan's reintroduction of fingerprinting of entrant foreigners, as an "counterterrorist measure" (after all, only foreigners are terrorists...) (Dec 5, 2004)

Part One: "GAIJIN WA NIHONGO GA KATAKOTO NO HOU GA II YO NE"
Kume Hiroshi, flippant Anchorman of popular program NEWS STATION, made a glib comment about non-Japanese that causes outrage amongst the foreign community in Japan. I respond by telephoning the network to lodge a complaint, only to be brushed aside. But it doesn't end there. A story of protest from a newly self-aware minority in Japan--the non-Japanese residents.

Part Two: THE RISE AND FALL OF AN ISSUE
After a meteoric rise (pity meteors don't rise), the issue faces the nay-sayers. Fukuzawa contrarians begin to chisel away at the legitimacy of complaining. "What's wrong with the word 'gaijin' anyway? Aren't we being 'politically correct' here?" My observations are on how non-Japanese aren't used to working together as a minority group, and find themselves unable to cooperate with one another.

Part Three: GAIJIN IS A DISCRIMINATORY WORD
In response to the naysayers above, I describe exactly what the word "gaijin" means and why it is in fact a racist term.

Part Four: KUME ISSUE ESCAPES INTERNET, HITS WORLD PRESS

a) Front page article in Chicago Sunday Tribune
b) Daily Yomiuri's William Penn comments in "Televiews"
c) Resultant TV broadcast on NEWS STATION Nov 28, 1996
d) Christmas Day article in The Daily Yomiuri--with angry denials of censorship from TV Asahi producers

Ever wondered how hard it is to become a Japanese citizen? What are the requirements? I compare both America and Japan in this essay that may or may not inspire you to change your citizenship.

a) Requirements for naturalization into Japan and America
b) Jpegs (in Japanese) of original information pamphlet on requirements for Japanese natururalization (cover and back) (inside)
c) The 100 Questions on America the US Immigration and Naturalization Service asks its applicants to screen them.
d) Or if you are less ambitious, a brief overview of requirements for getting your PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN JAPAN.
e) The US State Department's policy on Dual Nationality (it is possible), and how one can lose American citizenship: jpeg pages one and two.

MY NATURALIZATION

Yup, I did it. Became a Japanese Citizen. How? Read. Why? Ditto.

• PART ONE: MOTIVES AND PRELIMINARY STEPS
• PART TWO: AMERICANS PENALIZED IF THEY RENOUNCE U.S. CITIZENSHIP
• PART THREE: QUALMS I HAD WITH CHANGING MY NAME AND THE ADVICE I GOT ON IT FROM CYBERSPACE
• PART FOUR: FILING THE PAPERS OCT 23, 1999
• PART FIVE: "ARUDOU DEBITO, OMEDETOU!" OCT 10, 2000--MY JAPANESE CITIZENSHIP IS GRANTED
• NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE, "Turning Japanese--it takes more than a passport" (Nov 29, 2000, page 4), gives more details on my case. It may be seen on the NYT website at http:// www.nytimes.com/2000/11/29/world/29JAPA.html or else as text here.
• PART SIX: HOW TO GIVE UP AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP Yes, I did. What could have inspired such a rash act? A little coercion from the US State Department, in what I felt was an attempt to stop me from pursuing an international incident of racial discrimination near an American air base. The procedures involved, the actual documents (even my cancelled passport) scanned, and the motivations are all available here

JAPAN TIMES ON NATURALIZATION:

Friday, April 20, 2001, Part one:
FOREIGNERS FACE LONG SLOG TO JAPANESE CITIZENSHIP
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20010420a4.html (English)
(includes statement from me on naturalization procedures)

Saturday, April 21, 2001, Part two:
KOREANS WEIGH MERITS OF GAINING JAPANESE CITIZENSHIP
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20010421a3.html (English)
(includes statement from my Korean friend on his rejection for parking tickets)

And just for fun, to show how quickly a person's mind can change, I dug up and URLed an essay I wrote in 1995 arguing that assimilation into Japan is practically impossible! Time capsule on my old attitudes towards assimilation available here

If you're still wondering just how obtaining Japanese citizenship may or may not avail you of the trappings of assimilation, here's something less fun: an April 2002 report on "JAPANESE ONLY" SIGNS AROUND MISAWA AIR BASE, where foreign hostesses employed by cheap local bars still refused me entry despite me showing my Japanese passport! A tale replete with ironies indeed.

People who come here to live and work often have no idea what they are getting into, or how they can make the best of (or even make sense of) a culturally-ambiguous situation. This essay is a keynote speech I gave to some transplant educators called JETs (on the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme) in both February and May, 1999, who face difficult roles as cultural ambassadors in the Japanese outback. I describe what sorts of cultural phenomena found specifically in Japan will adversely affect mental stability, how one can deal with them, and how one can increase job satisfaction by negotiating his or her own role in the community and the office. Particularly recommended for those who have shallow or no experience in dealing with Japanese workplaces.

• April 1999 (color jpeg) on why Japanese society will undergo a sea change in the not-too-distant future--as more foreigners are staying, having children, and even naturalizing. The very image of "Japaneseness" (black hair, brown eyes) may have to be revised.
• May 1999 (color jpeg) describes how difficult the procedures are for naturalization into Japan.

I was asked to attend one of those suspicious "international communication in the community" associations, which local governments throw money at but usually have no clue how to use. I agreed to attend only on the condition I can have some real input on events and proceedings, which I was granted. So I sat down and wrote out a brief presentation on how to be more "culturally sensitive" from the word go. An attempt to de-programme open-minded people from the ubiquitous "wareware Nipponjin" phenomena, which so often pre-empts any attempts at productive international communication.

Eventually, after taking a very active role in the formation of the first annual international gathering, I undertake a workshop there to raise community awaredness, entitled ,"Towards a society more receptive towards cultural differences" (ibunka ni kanjusei no aru shakai e, Japanese here). It went very well. I would suggest people who want to see how to make a difference in Japanese society have a look at these essays and see what is feasible in their neighborhoods.

• My preliminary report on the association and a working outline of the speech
• Feedback from the association and from cyberspace
• How it all went in the end

1) THE NATIONAL PERSONNEL AGENCY (jinjiin)
I was asked by Japan's bureaucracy to give a 2 1/2 hour talk to representatives of all major ministries, on how to better serve the public, particularly non-Japanese long-term residents. I gave several concrete proposals for easing our assimilation into Japanese society.

• Text of my speech (English)
• Q&A Period: Paraphrasings of Audience Reactions (English)
• Original Japanese text I gave to the audience as a handout

• The original plea for help to cyberspace
• The revised speech, after assistance
• Original Japanese text handout
• The disastrous presentation itself

INTERESTING TANGENT: IS DAVE ALDWINCKLE BECOMING DAVE SPECTOR? Questions were raised by one DFS member about the efficacy of my speaking to the Japanese government at all. As I am admittedly unqualified as an economist, was I just using my Japanese skills to prostitute myself?

Want to further the cause of assimilation a bit? Here's how you can make your voice heard more effectively. This is the handout to a talk I gave with Daniel Walsh, of Hagoromo Junior College, Osaka, at the JALT (Japan Assoication for Language Teaching) Annual General Meeting, Omiya, Saitama-ken, on Sunday, November 22, 1998. Tips on how to know your audience, how to know your venue, how to make the hosts inspire your speech, and how much financia l compensation you should get for your monumental efforts.

The Japanese academic job market, never very open to overseas educators, is becoming even more abusable, as demonstrated by recent court cases which have created legal loopholes exclusively for foreigners. I suggest to those who are considering a post at a Japanese university to reconsider. I suggest to those non-Japanese already working in Japan to stay here and watch out for their rights.

Why such polarized advice? Read these URLs and see why:

• A BACKGROUND PRIMER IS HERE
• THE OPEN LETTER TO EDUCATORS OUTSIDE JAPAN IS HERE
• THE OPEN LETTER TO EDUCATORS WITHIN JAPAN IS HERE
• If you really must come to Japan or are in between jobs here: TEN QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD ASK YOUR EMPLOYER BEFORE TAKING A JOB IN A JAPANESE UNIVERSITY ARE HERE
• Don't be fleeced and sent home. Know how to tell the difference between the stable and the temp jobs. Basic criteria for judgment are here. An abridged version which appeared in Tokyo Classified, May 15, 1999, pg. 25, is here as a jpeg, as well as a full-blown academic essay published in JALT's The Language Teacher magazine, July, 1999, pp. 14-16.
• NINKISEI UPDATE AND ROUNDUP, co-authored with Fox and Shiozawa, published in JALT's The Language Teacher, issue dated August, 1999.

(NOTE: To save bandwidth by avoiding duplication, note that some of these letters are linked within a larger JALT publication called the PALE Journal, which catalogs employment abuses. Click here to see past PALE issues.)

The Japanese university system is full of pitfalls. Most (yes, most) full-time foreign educators in Japan suffer or have suffered from temporary job status in a system that differentiates not on the basis of qualification, but nationality. Don't be fleeced and sent home. Know how to tell the difference between the stable and the temp jobs. Basic criteria for judgment are here. An abridged version which appeared in Tokyo Classified, May 15, 1999, pg. 25, is here as a jpeg only.

A very rough, preliminary essay, waiting for comments from more walks of life. Had to start somewhere. Contribute if you can.

ISSUES OF JAPANESE PRIMARY EDUCATION PART ONE: YOUCHIEN (KINDERGARTEN)

My elder daughter started her education at a Japanese kindergarten (youchien) in April 1998. I went to her school Orientation and saw what I consider some of the roots of conditioning into "Japaneseness". Still a work in progress, as we haven't reached the upper echelons of grade schooling yet.

PART ONE: CREDIT AND CHICANERY
An introductory essay on the hurdles involved in buying land and building a house here. Forget cultural explanations--here's the real reason why Japanese save so much.

If for some reason you want to see our house's specs and sketches, click here.

COMPETITION OVER COOPERATION IN AMERICAN BUSINESS SCHOOLS
An excerpt from my as-yet unpublished novel. I assert that MBA-trained Western businesspeople in fact face a disadvantage in highly-cartelized Asian markets, because they are taught to compete with each other rather than cooperate. Based upon my experiences in a quasi-MBA program at the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, UC San Diego.

AIRLINE DEREGULATION IN JAPAN
I was asked to appear as a panelist on a Japanese TV show for the first time in Spring 1997. What about? Something warm-fuzzy like my feelings about being a foreigner in Japan, right? Wrong. About Japanese airfares. Say what? They needed an American to give the American side of airline deregulation. This long post juggles themes of regulation and change, information collation, and use of the mass media as a means of information dispersal. I learn first-hand just how tough it is to be a reporter.

And, as a follow-up:

AIR-DO: A NEW AIRLINE TAKES OFF AGAINST THE WIND
This is an article I wrote for the May 1999 edition of the HIBA NEWS, a monthly newsletter I have been editing since 1997, on Hokkaido International Airlines (Air-Do). Mr Fukuki, head of the Eigyou-bu, came as our guest and told us how hard it was to get the airline, one of two upstarts challenging the hegemony of Japan's Big Three, off the ground--with obstacles thrown up by airplane sellers, domestic carriers, and even the Ministry of Transportation! Read this and understand why I thought I would fly the Sapporo-Tokyo corridor via Air-Do from now on.

Until, alas, AIR-DO decided to treat foreigners differently and wilfully give them inferior service. See what I mean here.

THE LIBERAL USE OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IN JAPAN:  MAYONNAISE AND URANAI
Every now and again in Japan something catches my eye and spins my head, and I can't let it go until I pound it out into an essay.  This time, it happened to be a TV broadcast of a daily horoscope--where according to the star charts a "lucky menu" for those sh*t out of luck that day was... (note the thoroughly modern ingredients):  shrimp in mayonnaise sauce!!  Sit back and witness where the inspiration takes me...

TRUTH GAS IN THE JAPANESE PARLIAMENT
A tight little satire written for japantoday.com during the Suzuki Muneo vs Tanaka Makiko Diet feuds back in 2002, speculating on what would really come out if only pathological liars like Muneo (who happens to come from Hokkaido; oh, the shame of it) were to come clean.

BURNING RUBBER AND BURNING MY BRIDGES--SPEEDING IN JAPAN
I am of course an incredible driver. Too incredible by half, it seems. I recently got my driver licence suspended for too many tickets, and had to jump a few hoops in the Japanese legal system to get it back. A humorous eyewitness account of how no-nonsense the Japanese Department of Motor Vehicles is, and how a society usually known for its intolerance of lawbreakers treated me with exceptional clemency. I am an even more incredible driver as a result, especially since my "criminal record" may in fact have disqualified me for Japanese citizenship!

THE PREQUEL: JAPAN'S TERRIBLE DRIVERS

a) But seriously, folks... A musing on just how bad it is to drive in Japan
b) A response to the "shut up, you're not Japanese" flames I got for my trouble

PUBLICATION! The above "Japanese Funeral" Essay gets published by JPRI ! It is in a much richer format than the original, for when I realized I'd better take things seriously, I did more research.

"LANGUAGE BEGGARS"--A SURVEY
.A stranger comes up to me suddenly in the street and wants to practice his English. I tell him I'm not interested in giving free lessons to just anyone. End of story, but my conscience nags. Am I obligated to talk to strangers anytime, anywhere, because they want practice, or am I allowed to be off-duty from being an English speaker?

• Survey sent to Fukuzawa, ISSHO, JALTCall, and Friends
• Results

• Essay
• Surprising survey results

• My original NOMO BUNTING post and retyped article, with one critic's answer
• My follow-up NOMO APOLOGIA in response
• My subsequent article on the subject to the Asahi Evening News, Personal View Column (April 27, 1997, pg 6) (jpeg)

• Essay on an insurance fraud, and how I got my pound of flesh
• Private email joust with a critic of my bullying tactics

By the way,, I submitted a much briefer version of this trek to All Nippon Air's WINGSPAN Magazine 1997 Short Essay Contest. It didn't win anything, alas.

• Essay to Fukuzawa
• My article on the subject from The Asahi Evening News (jpeg)

• ESSAY ONE: American women aren't exactly innocent, your honor
• ESSAY TWO: Responses to Essay One and Apologia
• ESSAY THREE: I get my comeuppance

FOREIGN REPORTAGE ON JAPAN: "GUSH AND MUSH"

Ever notice how far off-target foreign journalists get when talking about Japan? A lot of "gush" (they over-sing the praises of the place to the point of inaccuracy) or "mush" (they report onthings that are irrelevant and immaterial when analyzing the world's second-largest economy). I write a contentious essay which notes that those journalists truly have their work cut out for them--for their overfrequent lack of Japanese language ability, coupled by the systemic Japanese cartelization of information for image control, makes it inevitable that they get it wrong. My points are dismissed by non-journalist critics as mere pat "conspiracy theory", but my second essay outlines the evidence for information cartelization. Finally, a journalist comes forth and really gives us the lowdown on the systemic obstacles facing journalists everywhere. A delightfully enlightening debate.

• ESSAY ONE: FOREIGN JOURNALISTS ON JAPAN: GUSH AND MUSH
• THE CRITICS RESPOND
• ESSAY TWO: JAPAN'S INFORMATION CARTELS: CONSPIRACY THEORY IS CONSPIRACY FACT
• AN ENLIGHTENING ESSAY FROM A JOURNALIST
• AN EXAMPLE (Oct 4, 2004) OF GUSH AND MUSH IN THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE by Adam Sparks
• MORE MUSH: "WHAT JAPANESE WOMEN WANT--A WESTERN HUSBAND" (Christian Science Monitor, Dec 6, 2004, by "Bennett Richardson")
• OUTRIGHT FABRICATIONS: MISQUOTES BY GREGORY CLARK, JAPAN TIMES COLUMNIST (where Clark erroneously cites a 2000 USA Today article, and refuses to either rectify or retract his comments despite corrections from the public and from the original article's author, Peter Hadfield), Japan Times, February-March 2005.

• Original DRUGS IN JAPAN essay
• A flame debunking my argument
• My response: DRUGS APOLOGIA essay

EUROTREK 1996
A collection of travelogues with photos describing our six-week trip Eurailing around Europe Summer 1996, divided into territory. As the adventure is cumulative, I recommend reading them in order.

• Part One: England
• Part Two: England and Denmark
• Part Three: France
• Part Four: Spain
• Part Five: Derailed
• Part Six: Italy
• Part Seven: Bavaria, home again, and lessons from the trip

• PART ONE: Salmon Wars and Dilbert
• PART TWO: Confrontation and Kryptonite
• PART THREE: Genetics and Torpedoes
• PART FOUR: Misfits Make the Best Immigrants
• PART FIVE: The Flight from the Americas
• PART SIX: Panmunjom and Home Again

• PART ONE: Adonis vs Bacchus Spiced With Sisyphus
• PART TWO: Drafting The San Furano Valley
• PART THREE: Man and Superman: Going Solo
• PART FOUR: A Horse With No Narrative
• PART FIVE: Obon and the Ougon Douro
• PART SIX: Sprinting Home and Facing Death

• PREAMBLE: HIGH HOPES FOR THIS TRIP
• PART ONE: PRELUDE TO BOARDING THE BOAT
• PART TWO: LIFE AT SEA WITH A JAPAN IN MICROCOSM
• PART THREE:  EARNING MY KEEP
• PART FOUR:  JAMAICA, SLAVERY, AND HOME AGAIN